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Wakarusa Total Arrests Level Out, Felonies Up

The total number of arrests made at the Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival have declined, but felony arrests apparently increased.

There were a total of 44 arrests over the course of the four-day festival that ended Sunday, with 35 of those being felony arrests and nine misdemeanors, according to Franklin County Sheriff Anthony Boen.

A 2013 Times Record report states that Boen reported there were 42 total arrests that year, 23 being felonies. Boen said Monday that last year’s total number of arrests was closer to 73 but could not provide the number of felonies.

Either way, there has been a precipitous decline in the total number of arrests over the past three years — 85 arrests in 2011 and somewhere between 66 and 75 arrests in 2012, according to previous reports.

“We’re doing something different this year,” Boen said. “Even if it’s a misdemeanor charge we’re bringing them in and finger printing them so there’s a record of it, rather than just citing and releasing.”

All felony arrests in relation to the festival this year were drug related, Boen said. Misdemeanor arrests included trespassing, DUI, paraphernalia and some “intent to deliver.”

Not all arrests are made on festival grounds at Mulberry Mountain. Franklin County authorities set up a command post a quarter of a mile from festival grounds manned by sheriff’s deputies, Arkansas State Police and Arkansas Highway Police.